Mark’s List

The following is the list of Independent formatters and cover designers, in its entirety, emailed from Mark Coker’s Smashwords.com website. All credit goes to Mark and his wonderful company for promoting and helping indie authors. Thank you Mark!

This list is divided into two sections: Ebook formatters and Ebook cover designers.

Most are fellow Smashwords authors. We make this list available to you as a courtesy. We do not collect referral fees, and cannot warrant the quality of their work.

You’re hiring the freelancer, not Smashwords.

Please pay the service provider in advance via PayPal.

Feel free to report your experiences (positive or otherwise) back to Mark Coker of Smashwords at mc@smashwords.com The service providers may also report back to Mark, so please be professional and follow the instructions below.

Most formatters will assure your placement in the Smashwords Premium Catalog.

Review the Smashwords Style Guide at http://smashwords.com/b/52 to learn how ebook formatting is different from print formatting (ebooks cannot and should not look like a facsimile of the print book, for example).

If you don’t have the time, skills or patience to implement the Style Guide, then hire from this list.

Novels, narrative non-fiction and narrative with images are the easiest to format, and they produce the highest quality ebooks at Smashwords. Some formatters charge more for non-fiction, images and linked Tables of Contents (ToCs) due to greater complexity.

Email your chosen provider your complete manuscript as a Word document, and ask them to estimate their fee.

Formatters do not perform editing, copy editing or proofreading because it is not their responsibility. If your book is filled with gross typographic errors, Smashwords cannot accept it into the Premium Catalog, even if the formatting is perfect.

Do not ask the formatter to upload your file for you. You must do this yourself.

If Smashwords formatting requirements change in the future, and your ebook requires further formatting modification, it is NOT the responsibility of the formatter or Smashwords to revise your book for you.

Fiction and Nonfiction start at $35. Price depends on complexity. Will work from PDF, MS Word, Pages and Open Office files. Will format linked TOCs/footnotes/endnotes and images. Premium Catalog guaranteed.

Please note that these rates are low, so it’s unfair to ask for multiple revisions of your cover. If you expect multiple revisions, then settle this upfront with the designer and volunteer to pay more if necessary. Their time is valuable – please respect it.